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Julius Lester

Bio

Born in 1939, Julius Lester spent his youth in the Midwest and the South and received a B.A. in English from Fisk University in 1960.

Since 1968 he has published 25 books of fiction, nonfiction, children’s books, and poetry. Among the awards these books have received are the Newbery Honor Medal, American Library Association Notable Book, National Jewish Book Award Finalist, The New York Times Outstanding Book, National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, Caldecott Honor Book, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, and a National Book Award Finalist. His books have been translated into eight languages.

He has published more than one hundred essays and reviews in such publications The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Op-Ed Page,The Boston Globe, The Village Voice, The New Republic, Katallagete, Moment, Forward, and Dissent.

He has recorded two albums of original songs, hosted and produced a radio show on WBAI-FM in New York City for eight years, and hosted a live television show on WNET in New York for two years. A veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, his photographs of that movement are included in an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution and are part of the permanent photographic collection at Howard University.

After teaching at the New School for Social Research for two years, Mr. Lester joined the faculty of the University of Massachusetts/Amherst in 1971 where he is presently a full professor in the Judaic and Near Eastern Studies Department, and adjunct professor in the English and History departments. He also serves as lay religious leader of Beth El Synagogue in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

He has been awarded all four of the university’s most prestigious faculty awards: The Distinguished Teacher’s Award; the Faculty Fellowship Award for Distinguished Research and Scholarship; Distinguished Faculty Lecturer; and recipient of the Chancellor’s Medal, the University’s highest honor. In 1986 the Council for Advancement and Support of Education selected him as the Massachusetts State Professor of the Year.

Mr. Lester’s biography has appeared in Who’s Who In America since 1970. He has given lectures and papers at more than 100 colleges and universities.

His most recent books are John Henry, And All Our Wounds Forgiven, a novel about the civil rights movement, and Othello, a novel based on the Shakespeare play.